From this week’s Galway City Tribune – One of Knocknacarra’s biggest employers is set to move across the Corrib, taking with it around 350 staff – many of whom live on the west side of Galway City.

The news that Aviva is pulling out of the area to move to Ballybrit has given rise to concerns of great traffic issues in the city in the week, where councillors sought to address the east-west industry imbalance in the next City Development Plan.

The insurance giant confirmed to the Galway City Tribune this week that it had reached ‘heads of terms’ agreement to move its operations to an office premises in Ballybrit Business Park following the sale of its premises in Knocknacarra.

It is understood that the company will occupy the former premises of Hewlett Packard which has room for about one-third of its staff, as workers maintain a hybrid working model developed during Covid.

The news has sparked alarm that already dire traffic problems will worsen as workers make their way from west to east, said local councillor, Níall McNelis (Lab).

“The move will put terrible strain on staff who have bought houses in Knocknacarra to be close to work and will now have to cross the city every morning,” said Cllr McNelis.

The Knocknacarra-based councillor said renters in the area would also be in bother, as there was a huge dearth of available beds in any part of the city and especially to the east where the vast majority of industry is based.

With poor public transport connectivity and still no sign of a bus route across Quincentenary Bridge, it was likely the numbers of cars on the road would increase, he continued.

This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story, including Council discussions on industrial lands in Knocknacarra, see the July 22 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.